Billy Bob Thornton underestimated me

A re-visit, and closer look, at the misunderstanding that captured the civilized world’s attention.
In this brief version, Jian Ghomeshi adds additional commentary, to help put it all in context.
Context, is everything.

from his remarks at Ryerson University:

“We were ready to do a half an hour interview about his, quite frankly, mediocre music, you know?”

“… but we were willing to do it … let the band play, talk about that … umh … I mean, that’s the funny part about it. This, this show is … exactly what he wanted to do, and they just hadn’t … you know … They hadn’t done their research. They didn’t … He didn’t … you know … we were some backwater Canadian show.
They underestimated the CBC.
They underestimated ME.
They underestimated the SHOW.
They underestimated the LISTENER.
They underestimated the REACH.
They underestimated the fact that there were cameras in the room.
They underestimated all of that!
(mimicking) “no one gives a shit. We’re just in some Canadian studio.”
Yeah, a Canadian studio with a million listeners!”

Jian knows how to take instructions, and he’s cool with that

It’s clear that there was an agreement and understanding in place, as a condition of “Q” getting the interview.
The CBC and Ghomeshi constantly deny that they had agreed to anything ahead of time.
They are lying, and have been riding the illusion that listeners have about what happened here.
The CBC claims that there are no restrictions on what they can discuss once the guest is in the studio, but obviously both the producers and Jian had agreed to what was asked of them, and then immediately went ahead with whatever they felt like doing. Is it any wonder that Billy Bob became uptight in front of this smarmy pinhead?

Jian says “the producers said you didn’t want”, then quickly realizes that he’s letting the cat out of the bag about guests making demands, so he changes the script to “they didn’t want to focus …”. The truth was that the focus of the interview was being dictated by the guest, first and foremost, not by some idea in a producers head.
It’s how you play the game in order to get these interviews.
It’s called compromising. It’s called fake interviewing.
Repeatedly we are told that both Ghomeshi and the producers had agreed to it, despite their subsequent denials.
As Jian says, if Billy Bob hadn’t gotten ticked off at the way his interest in music compared to film was described, then the interview would have gone exactly as he had requested.
A deal is a deal.
Not that the CBC and their high standards of journalistic integrity are into making deals!

The way Jian characterizes Billy Bob’s attitude is patently offensive.
Where is the evidence, where is the justification, to ascribe thoughts to Billy Bob that he thinks “no one gives a shit. We’re just in some Canadian studio.”? Who is bringing up the word “backwater”?
What is Ghomeshi’s problem, that his insecurities are the fault of others?
No one is insulting Canada here, except Jian himself.
Just as the entire episode was an insult to Billy Bob Thornton.
And he deserves an apology from the CBC, and from Jian Ghomeshi.

62 Comments

  • Billy Bunce says:

    Prophetic.

  • Anonymous says:

    Jian’s “Music” section in Wikipedia doesn’t mention his time in Tall New Buildings at all….wonder why?

  • Anonymous says:

    Oh goody! Another “iconic” interview with another “iconic” American. I bet he says “Take me back to…..” zzzzz…

  • Anonymous says:

    I guess it’s safe to say that Jian Ghomeshi is looking for another interview gone “sideways”: he is having LOU REED on his show on Monday the 15. He is reading Teamakers for inspiration I guess!!! The BBT mess is running out of fame-juice! If only fame-juice came in a bag! He could snip the corner and drink that milky goodness. But instead his is going to subject Lou Reed to the “utter bullshit and boredom” of Jian Ghomeshi.

  • Allan says:

    Spirit of generosity? How about spirit of humility.
    Had you been there that night listening to his shameless self-promotion and exaggerated importance, you too would have gone home a written the above post.
    Who does this guy think he is.
    There are many, many former musicians in this town – Parachute Club to Blue Peter, so don’t tell me that Moxy was in some ways better than others.
    Ghomeshi came out of nowhere to suddenly be given a national television show. A television show interviewing Harrison Ford.
    He and the show failed. Failed. People hated it and what they hated most about it was Jian Ghomeshi.
    But no, he wouldn’t go away, and re-surfaces on radio doing LISTS of things.
    Does he do Canada Reads?
    if so, is that not a program that almost any CBC personality could look after?
    And now “Q”.
    Is “Q” not in essence a late-night show?
    Isn’t it fundamentally an exercise in name-dropping, using American celebrities with some Canadian content sprinkled in?

    “contributed to Canadian culture”?
    And who doesn’t if they work for the CBC?
    Can you name someone at the CBC who is not contributing to Canadian culture?
    Doesn’t every show on every channel contribute to Canadian culture?
    So what’s the big deal about Ghomeshi? Ask him, and he’s happy to tell you what a big deal he is.
    He’s on the radio every day with millions of listeners, people listening not for Ghomeshi but for the interesting guests that anyone could get simply by virtue of being with the CBC.
    Ghomeshi on television would fail again.
    “Q” would be just as popular without Ghomeshi.

    I’ve been exposed to enough of Ghomeshi to conclude that he’s a fake, a mean-spirited, self-serving fake.
    When you see that Billy Bob interview it’s quite apparent that Ghomeshi was being rude and aggressive.
    When you hear him a year later saying “I’ve never said a bad word about the guy”, and then quickly begin a litany of casting aspersions on Billy Bob’s attitude toward Canada and Canadians, when there’s nothing to justify such accusations, then you clearly see that he’s a coward and a liar.
    So why should I hold back in expressing my views.
    He gets to speak to a huge audience every day and try to impress them with his “clever” repartee, to hype himself basically and insert his own importance into the conversation.
    He expects everyone, people who have accomplished far more than he has, to “play ball” with him and treat him as an equal.
    Yeah, you want to throw up.

    • Anonymous says:

      There is an element of “name-dropping” insincerity in his manner, and if you’re a “nobody” who isn’t involved in the cultural industry, who isn’t a 20-ish female, his niceness wanes quickly.

      • Allan says:

        It waned halfway through my comment to him …
        “You’re getting a lot of attention at the Tea Makers blog.”
        His response …
        “Yeah, a lot of people turned up tonight.”
        I assumed he didn’t hear the entire sentence, since he wasn’t wearing headphones.

  • Anon says:

    Anonymous ( February 4, 2010 at 2:13 pm) says:
    “Ghomeshi has contributed to Canadian art/culture in the past ”

    Uh, if you mean ephemera, yes. Nothing Ghomeshi has done
    so far will last past the off button.
    There is no contribution to culture, to meaning, to anything more
    than the drive-home-show radio that goes in one ear of 8 percent
    of the population, and out the other.

  • Anonymous says:

    Jian Ghomeshi has contributed to Canadian art/culture in the past and continues to support Canadian arts and culture through his show; a thoughtful, intelligent, stimulating, and entertaining show. Jian is a very welcome and essential part of the Canadian cultural fabric, and he’s also just a good guy. What’s with the angry mob? What’s with all the hate? Enough, already. Generosity of spirit, people!

  • wirehead says:

    Will Jian SHUT the F**K up about Billy Bob already? He SUCKS as an interview. He IS and NEVER WILL BE Gzowski, and he’s the best Canada has to offer? Time to move.

  • Anonymous says:

    Why did Jian stop following PoonGirl on Twitter? Did he find out that she’s black?

  • LOL says:

    Jian watching the Grammys and tweeting about it 20something times while LIGHTS is in a van for 11 hours is funny as hell!!!!!!

  • Anonymous says:

    Keep making the most of life, haters!

  • Anonymous says:

    Well you have to admit that Jian boy is really funny. Not clever, but funny. Good for some laughs. Tweet tweet tweet! Pay attention to me! Please love me!

  • Twitterer says:

    If Jian and his musical protégé LIGHTS are such big deals in the music industry, how come neither of them got an invite to the Grammys?

    Jian spent the evening at home watching the Grammys and sent 23 tweets about the show.

    As for LIGHTS, she was “Unable to partake in Grammy festivities as I have been in a van for 11 hours… Watching vicariously through @jianghomeshi’s tweets.
    about 2 hours ago from UberTwitter”

    • Anonymous says:

      He’s still tweeting about the show even though it’s been over for half an hour. Seriously, doesn’t Jian have any friends that he can discuss the Grammys with while he’s watching it? Why does he have to do it on Twitter? Is Twitter the closest thing he has to an actual friend?

    • Anonymous says:

      LMAO @ LIGHTS being stuck “in a van for 11 hours”. Let that be a lesson to any other young girls that are considering hiring Jian as their Manager. Schadenfreude hopes her next tweet is about having to change a flat tire in the middle of nowhere in the dead of winter.

    • Anonymous says:

      ..& some of the tweets were mean. I guess he doesn’t want to have Quentin Tarantino on Q anytime soon…

  • Anonymous says:

    Is it me, or do his comments: “kids” & “lads” sound a little patronizing & superior? I guess it’s better than calling people: “fellow mammals”.

  • Anonymous says:

    It could have been resolved if Jian, as any host graciously says to a guest who they may have unintentionally made uncomfortable or offended, had said: “I’m sorry.”

    • Allan says:

      Precisely.
      Anyone here heard of Lou Reed? Of course you have.
      Now that guy is one notoriously difficult interview.
      It’s the same reputation as Billy Bob. They are both known for having little tolerance for fools, and no interest in going out of their way to be liked. Yet anyone who does actually get to know them will immediately see that they are two of the nicest people going.
      Frank Zappa too was not interested in idle, trivial or fake interviews.
      That’s who you’re dealing with, so don’t expect an easy ride or that a big smile will melt their hearts.
      Who would you rather go fishing with?
      Billy Bob or Jian?
      Billy Bob, like Leonard Cohen speaks and say things that have value, and come from a life deeply lived.
      Jian says … whatever he says … is “imbued” with two constant principles:
      It is going to be SELF-SERVING
      and it is going to be MINDLESS and SUPERFICIAL.
      What a brave Gladiator he is to sit there in front of these students and berate Billy Bob by suggesting he entered the TBC and considered it a “backwater” studio operation. Or that he thinks Canadians are beneath him.
      All of those stupid statements come from the imagination of Jian Ghomeshi.
      Jian pretends that the problem Billy was having was with the entire country instead of with the little fop sitting in front of him.

      Mindless statements. Virtually everything he said that night was friggin’ mindless.
      Every remark was a generalization that means nothing and often isn’t the truth.

      Let’s take one statement:
      THEY UNDERESTIMATED ME.
      Who are THEY?
      Who?
      I saw three people in that studio and two of them were being extremely polite and helpful. Helpful to Jian.
      The two guys with the glasses seemed totally decent and sincere, and I’ve seen a performance by one of them – a really, really talented entertainer.
      Two good guys and one not “playing ball”.
      So how does that little twerp “journalist” tell the story?
      THEY underestimated me.

      Would you trust anything he says?

      Jian is counting on the odds being in his favour that those two men will not find out that he said “THEY” underestimated me, or that he’ll ever see them again.
      He’s a coward. Most liars are.

      He actually said that next time around he would stand up to and confront Harrison Ford.
      Wow, the new brave Ghomeshi, ready to face anyone who doesn’t “play ball” or steps on his toes during the dance.
      I’d love to see it, I really, really would.
      And what are the chances of Jian practising confrontational interview techniques and still keeping that job?!
      As if every day isn’t going to be one kissing of celebrity butt after another.

      Both he and George try to take a nothing job and spin it into some higher calling.

      AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!

      • Anonymous says:

        What confuses me is his posturing as a mild-mannered meek polite guy & then his visceral mean-spirited chastisement of his guests. He is definitely a two-sided Gemini.

  • Rufus Leakin says:

    Lets not forget how dull and boring the BBT interview was. Has anyone watched it more than once? Why would anyone? All that I heard in that interview was BBT sounding like he just OD’ed on Valium and a stammering little bitch calling a truce before anything even happened.

  • Anonymous says:

    The entire encounter has indeed been overexposed, but keep in mind it was all BB’s doing. If he felt betrayed, the best revenge would have been to be as boring as possible, not actively hostile. A series of dull, meandering responses (to Jian’s dull, meandering questions) would have soon been just another forgotten half-hour of Q. Instead, Thornton opted to turn the interview into a such an extreme train wreck people just HAD to hear, and then see, it for themselves on-line. Jian owes Billy-Bob big time: by being a witless jerk, he gave Brand J probaby its biggest ever promotional boost. Oh, the irony.

  • Anonymous says:

    I completely agree with Anonymous @4:30 p.m. To me that (integrity) is what this is all about and that’s what really bugs my ass about Jian Ghomeshi: complete lack of integrity. He sighs dramatically for emphasis when waxing tragically and furrows a brow and makes high-flown sentimental rhyming eulogies to artists who pass or to victims of earthquakes, but the man is a hypocrite and has zero integrity. The way he has exploited that Thorton interview is embarrassing and he seems to show no sign of letting up.

    I also am astounded that he called the Boxmasters “mediocre” and called Ford a “dick.” It should be seen as a warning not to sit at that table across from JG unless you’re willing to stroke his ego. Jian proves yet again that his interviews are really all just about him.

    Strombo may have droopy pants and pit stains but he’s got integrity that JG will never have.

  • Anonymous says:

    What has always been at the heart of this story is Jian (the human leech) Ghomeshi trying to get some free publicity via Billy Bob Thornton’s fame and notoriety. Do you think that George would have used an interview that went sour as a self-promotion tool the way that Jian has? No, because unlike Jian, George has integrity.

  • Anonymous says:

    Jian will say anything to get some cheap laughs from 20-something women. To make the young kids like him.

    How many of the Jian cheerleaders are actually Jian himself, I wonder?

    • Anonymous says:

      Or maybe it’s Lights, defending her manager’s honour (since she portrays herself as some kind of cartoon warrior).

  • Anonymous says:

    Why does Jian find it necessary, as a university-graduate, to include the words shit, piss, & dick in his lexicon of words to use in a public forum? Doesn’t he remember the big words? Save it for the bar or nightclub.

  • PoonGirl says:

    I agree with you Anonymous 3.07pm. I think what people forget is that Jian never asked him about his acting career, he only asked him about his music, but BB was pissed because his acting career was mentioned in the BIO (not the actual Q and A session). For that, BB acts like a little baby and refuses to perform ?

    As far as the actual interview session goes, Jian did keep his word and kept it all about his music career. Therefore, I do not think he did anything wrong. I do think however that BB expecting people to pretend like the rest of his career never happened because he is promoting a band now is ridiculous. That is something the CBC should have never gone along with in the first place ,although pretty much every institution does.

    • Anonymous says:

      I agree with your comment, PoonGirl.
      I don’t get why people are throwing out insults at Jian. I understand some people may not like him (we all have different opinions), but to position an opinion as pure degredation is uncalled for, in my opinion. I would respect their opinion more if they weren’t low blows. But for now I don’t.

  • Anonymous says:

    To put all the onus on Jian as a fame whoring douchbag (or whatever he’s being called) shows that some people have just as much class and respect as Billy Bob does. Billy Bob handled this situation in an immature manner. If, in fact, Jian/Q were asked to keep certain topics out of the conversation, why not simply remind him (Jian) of that? It’s a lot easier than coming across as a disprespectful jerk, in my opinion. Just because one person comes across as rude, does not mean you have to put the other person down. I most certainly agree that Billy Bob underestimated the situation.

    • Allan says:

      What do you mean “IF” … “IF Jian/Q were asked to keep certain topics out of the conversation”?
      Are you suggesting that is still open to question? Did you hear the interview???
      And PoonGirl – like most people you think it was bringing up acting that offended Billy Bob. Then why does he say “that too”?
      Because he didn’t care for the introduction and the way Jian presumed to know Billy Bob’s relationship to his music.
      He had specifically requested that there be no phrases like “it’s his first love” or even any need to go there.
      We all know who Billy Bob is, but no, Jian had to go there. Couldn’t just do an interview with a band, maybe tell the audience afterwards what the understanding was about the interview.
      But Jian was all worried about not looking stupid, anticipating listeners calling in and saying why didn’t you ask him about this and this and this?

      So Michael Douglas is on The Hour.
      Hey George, why didn’t you ask him about his son sitting in prison for running a drug ring?
      That’s surely something a real journalist would ask about.
      Or did George, one of the most respected journalists in the country just sit and talk with Michael about “Wall Street 2” and Karl Malden?
      Oh yeah, everything is journalism!

      PoonGirl, you say he kept his word. I agree. He did exactly as he was told. Obedient great interviewer, one of the best around!
      Then claims there are no conditions to what he can talk about with guests.
      They told me you wanted … let me re-phrase that to be a little less truthful … they told me they wanted …

      • Anonymous says:

        I did listen to the interview. Jian did mention the producers/he was instructed not to ask any questions about his acting career/focus on BBT’s acting career. A brief mention of such in the bio intro would not be focus, in my opinion, nor did I hear any questions about BBT’s acting career is said interview . I still do not believe this is grounds to defend BBT’s attitude.

  • Anonymous says:

    Did JG really call Harrison Ford a dick?

    • Anonymous says:

      Most unfortunate word to use for someone who craves interviewing every American celebrity. Who would feel safe from judgements like that? Does every celebrity have to act like his best friend?

  • Anonymous says:

    You mean in one Ryerson interview Jian has finally decided to step off the high road and insult Thornton’s music and call Harrison Ford a dick?

    And if Thornton’s music is mediocre why was Jian having him on his show? Oh right, because Thornton is a big, big American celebrity. And Jian gets a boner over having big, big American celebrities on his show regardless of artistic merit… now by his own admission here.

  • Vancouverite says:

    Jian has already rolled the odometer on the Billy Bob incident enough times. How much more mileage is he going to try to get out of it? Now Jian is analyzing it like the Zapruder film!!! Jian is now in ‘creepy stalker’ territory.
    Let go of Billy Bob’s coattails, Jian!

  • anonymoose says:

    Sure, Billy Bob over-reacted, he didn’t need to be such a disagreeable ass, but Jian was the real d-bag of the two, stumbling and bumbling while trying to think his way out of it — “the producers told me that you didn’t want to blah blah blah”. C’mon Jian, this game gets played out countless times everyday across the continent — if you agree to do an interview and there are conditions or limits set out by the guest or their handlers, and you or your producers AGREE to the conditions or limits, deal with it. Tee the interview up differently, think of a different direction you can take things, instead of relying on the tired, cliche-filled template that gets used with every single guest. If the idea of conditions or limits violates your sense of — ahem — journalistic integrity, then cancel the guest outright before they even get into the studio.

  • Anonymous says:

    Hey maybe JG’s steadily increasing TWITCHIENESS is the result of him knowing that the boom of his popularity over the last year is the result of this BIG LIE that he is some DIGNIFIED CANADIAN HERO who slung a rock at arrogant American superstar and brought him down.

    LIAR. The audio in the clip here shows us where the arrogance really lies.

    I would love to see Ghomeshi exposed more publically for the liar and fraud he really is. Toronto Villains 2010: Jian Ghomeshi.

  • Anonymous says:

    Just the fact that Jian’s monitor says “if this goes sideways…” tells us that they knew they could expect backlash from Thornton about what was being asked.

    Jian is a famewhore absolutely. He’s like it on the show and he’s like it in person. He smiles and shakes hands and convinces strangers that they have to like him but he ends up looking like a douchebag. People are put off by him because they can sense that he’s eager to make them laugh with stale jokes and be petted by them. He reeks of insecurity. The dude doesn’t know how to stop promoting himself whether he’s in his studio or in the company of friends. Jian Ghomeshi is a really sad story and a good Canadian guy gone spoiled by his need to be famous and loved. And the dude really needs to do something about his fucking hair and grow up!!!!!

  • Bran Gelina says:

    Quite frankly mediocre? Jean sounded like he liked it in that intro!

  • Phil Lacio says:

    What Jian is really saying here is “they underestimated what a raging fame whore I am and I was waiting for something like this to come along so I could have my 15 minutes and when it happened I tried to squeeze all the publicity I could out of it.”

    Billy Bob and Co. were surprised, yes. Jian took a minor incident that would have otherwise gone unnoticed and went on a shameless self promotion tour with it.

  • Saskboy says:

    Ridiculous, Billy Bob was an ass, and even if Jian was one too, Billy Bob was not the bigger man in the situation, he was petulant, and offensive.

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